December 8th must have some political resonance for Wales, as in addition to it being the day that Rhodri Morgan finally submitted his resignation as First Minister it is also the first anniversary of Kirsty Williams’ election as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
Kirsty has had quite an impact in the last 12 months, getting out of the Cardiff Bay bubble to meet and listen to as many people as possible, modernising the party’s organisation, putting in some impressive performances in the chamber and on the media and even at one stage, forcing the Rhodri Morgan onto the back foot over International Business Wales.
Her detractors claim that the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ performance in the European Elections was poor and reflects badly on her, however they overlook the fact that the party already started in fifth place in these elections, that Wales was the only part of the UK where we actually increased our vote share, that we reached our target of securing more than 50% of the top party’s vote and that substantial progress was made in all the Welsh Liberal Democrat’s target seats including good second places in Swansea West and Newport East and a swing from Plaid Cymru to the Lib Dems in Ceredigion.
Dominic Hannigan, who was Jenny Randerson’s campaign manager in the leadership contest provides his own characteristically generous assessment of the last year over at Wales Home:
So to summarise one on, Kirsty’s leadership can only be described as hugely positive. Any cracks in unity have been treated with the filler of real decisions, not the wallpaper of empty gestures. The Welsh Lib Dems are better organised and more professional than ever before, and we go into the most important period of electoral action in a decade with a spring in our step.
Immediately after the leadership election, it felt a natural time to leave the employment of the party. But after 12 months I remain in post with no regrets, and that is of huge credit to the leader. We are united and we are ready for battle.
A comment on that blog by Gethin is also worth quoting:
I have been impressed by Kirsty’s work – particularly on the International Business Wales stuff and her work on trying to build a more business-friendly culture (like her article on this site and her speech to the Lib Dem Welsh Conference that I saw on their blog. It’s good to see a politician establish herself on this issue.
I also think she has taken the Welsh Lib Dems out of their comfort zone – such as taking on Plaid (who I used to support) and trying to talk about real issues rather than focussing on process like politicians have done in the past.
I did not follow the Lib Dems closely until after Kirsty was elected but I think she has done a terrific job in the times i have seen her this year.
Da iawn!
Related posts:
Kirsty has brought a new spirit to both the Welsh liberal Democrats and to Welsh Politics. What I like is that she is not frightened to take the easy option and sit back and say nothing about poor performance. As in IBW. The videos posted are a great tool. The subject matter she has is not limited either.
It’s just a matter of time before the Welsh electorate begin to realise her qualities and potential to be First Minister of Wales.